Read 2 Samuel 15:1–18
The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once described friendship as "a sheltering tree." What a beautiful description of that special relationship. As I read those words, I think of my friends as great, leafy trees, who spread themselves over me, providing shade from the sun, whose presence is a stand against the blast of winter's lonely winds. A great, sheltering tree; that's a friend.

David was leaving the great city of Zion—the city named after him, the City of David. As he came to the edge, at the last house, he stopped and looked back over that golden metropolis he had watched God build over the past years. His heart must have been broken as he stood there looking back, his mind flooded with memories. All around him the people of his household scurried past, leading beasts of burden piled high with belongings, running for their lives.

He was at the last house, and he needed a tree to lean on. Somebody who would say, "David, I'm here with you. I don't have all the answers, but, man, I can assure you of this, my heart goes out to you." When the chips are down and there's nobody to affirm you and you run out of armor and you have no reputation to cling to, and all the lights are going out, and the crowd is following another voice, it's amazing how God sends a sheltering tree.

All of us need at least one person with whom we can be open and honest; all of us need at least one person who offers us the shelter of support and encouragement and, yes, even hard truths and confrontation. Sheltering trees, all!

Thankfully, David had a grove of such trees. As a result he made it through the toughest and loneliest hours of his life.

Do you? If so, it is a good time to call them up and thank them for their shelter. If not, it's a good time to get a shovel and plant a few. You'll need every one.

2 comments:

Wow, Julie, this was great. I can think of at least three sheltering trees that I have and I am thankful for each one. Especially right now with my mom sick, it is so nice to have friends that know when you have a need even if you may not recognize it yourself.

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I have been married to my high school sweetheart for 39 years. We have been blessed with two beautiful daughters and a granddaughter and grandson. My husband and I love shopping for antiques and vintage treasures. We sell items at the Christine Palmer Antique & Collectible Show and the Plucky Maidens Junk Fests in Portland, Oregon, and by appointment from our cottage. I love old things, furniture, books, paper, architecture . . . flea markets, anything with roses, interior design, decorating, and gardening.
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Older women are to be reverent in their behavior . . . teaching what is good, that they may encourage young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, homemakers, kind . . . . . ~ Titus 2:4